LHU Volleyball Advances To PSAC Final Four With 3-1 Win Over IUP

(Lock Haven, Pa.) - The Lock Haven University volleyball team (27-5) will advance to the semifinal round of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) volleyball championships with tonight’s 3-1 (30-24, 27-30, 30-24, 30-25) victory over Indiana (Pa.) University (23-11) in Thomas Fieldhouse. Lock Haven will face the Eastern Division’s top seeded Kutztown University (21-8) on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Kutztown , Pa.  
            The Lady Eagles and Indians traded off games one and two, Lock Haven grabbing the opening victory, 30-24. Game two was even closer and was still tied by 22-22.  Four attack errors and a reception error later, the Lady Eagles had dug themselves into a 27-22 hole.  Despite a strong effort by the Haven to make its way back to even, Indiana ’s Heather Bauer (Venus/Cranberry) ended things with a kill for the 30-27 win.
            A 19-19 tie was the last time the score was even in the third game, Lock Haven going on a three-point run to gain momentum.  The Lady Eagles came out of an Indiana timeout at 26-21 and tacked on three more unanswered points, including two on a pair of blocks by Cherry Li (Shanghai, China) and Allison Furry (Guys Mills/Maplewood) to bring the score to 29-21. Two Lock Haven errors and a kill by Marcy Stutzman (Friedens/Shanksville-Stony Creek) made the score 29-24, but an Indiana attack error on game point was the deciding tally to give LHU the 2-1 advantage entering into game four.
            Into game four, the Haven had built a 19-15 lead after seven ties in the early goings.  Indiana called timeout to regroup, then chipped away at the lead until bringing the score back to even at 21-21. After a 23-23 tie, the Lady Eagles capitalized on an Indiana service error and followed up with a kill by Amanda Snyder (Portsmouth, Va./Churchland) for the two-point advantage at 25-23.  An attack error on Indiana offset a kill by Brittany Gates (Hollidaysburg/Bishop Guilfoyle) to move the score to 26-24.  Cherry Li added a kill for Lock Haven, then Stutzman answered with a hard hit ball to the back corner for the point. Another kill by Li brought the score to 28-25.  Stutzman’s next attack attempt hit the net and remained on the IUP side of the court to move LHU to within one point of the match victory, 29-25.  The Haven handled the Indiana attack off the serve, then Allison Furry set up Allison Wade (Duncansville/Hollidaysburg), who hammered the point down for the kill and the 30-25 win.
            Cherry Li led all hitters with 25 kills and added a match-high of 18 digs and nine blocks. Lock Haven’s Lillian Bortoto added 12 kills and nine blocks, including three solo stuffs. Allison Wade tallied 11 kills, while Kristi Kauffman (York/Central York ) was key defensively with 12 digs.  Distributing the ball for 52 assists was Allison Furry, who also added six digs and five block assists.
            Middle hitter Brittany Gates totaled 16 kills to lead the Indians. Michelle Jones (Greensburg/Greensburg Salem ) had 12 kills, and Marcy Stutzman ended with 11 successful attack attempts in addition to 10 digs.  Amy Badorf (Mechanisburg/Mechanicsburg) added 10 kills to the offensive efforts.  Libero Sarah Rosenberry (Towanda/Towanda) dug up 16 opponent attacks, while both Carri Cole (Canton/Canton) and Alicia Koches (Clymer/Penns Manor) contributed 12 digs each. Setter Lacey George (Greensburg/Greensburg Salem ) directed the offense with 41 assists and also added seven digs.  

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